Team Fortress 2 primer

15 things you didn't know that will send your kill count through the roof

The Orange Box goes live at12:00 am Pacific Time on Oct 10, and 8:00am in the UK. If you're on the beta now, prepare to own some noobs when the great unwashed come flooding in. And if you haven't preordered, you're going to need a headstart.

Either way, it's time to brush up on a few of the lesser-known factors in the TF2 equation.

1. Every weapon except for the Sniper Rifle and the Demoman's grenades does less damage at longer ranges. Even rockets do less than half their full damage when fired from a distance.

2. Team-mates are almost completely immaterial to you, whereas enemies block your path. If a team-mate is blocking your path, he's a Spy.

3. Scouts count as two people when capturing control points.

4. The Pyro's flame can be put out by any form of healing, but isn't affected by knee-deep water. Only swimmable water extinguishes it. Either way, the flames burn for one last second before going out.

5. The Pyro's flame range is halved while he's running forward, since it travels at twice his running speed.